THE EDITOR'S COLUMN: Barack Obama let America down

ELECTION Day is Tuesday, and this is one election no voter should sit out. Every vote needs to be cast because the stakes are nothing less than the existence of the United States of America as we've known it since 1776.

In 2008, American optimism prevailed and the nation elected Barack Obama its first black president. He was an understandable choice: He was a likeable man with a golden gift for spellbinding speeches that overrode his thin resume. He promised hope and change and created a vision of national unity, an end to venomous partisan politics and a beautiful new post-racial era. He vowed fundamental transformation of America as if that was a good thing. Events of the last four years have burst that pretty bubble.

It turns out, his notion of fundamental transformation was based on a malicious view that America should be cut down to size and put into just another ordinary seat at the table of nations. A view that successful people who worked hard and grew wealthy somehow got it undeservedly at the expense of other people, and so his government should step in and take from the haves and give to those who didn't work for it. Spread the wealth around, rather than foster the American Dream of a country where anyone is free to use their talents, work hard and make a good living.

In domestic and foreign affairs, over the last four years, Obama has failed as president. He offers only more of the same if given a second term. It is vital to the nation's well-being that he not be returned to the White House.

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Obama's record as president demonstrates that, despite his charm and glowing words, he can only lead America to mediocrity, a lowered standard of living, and ultimately, the death of the American Dream and the rise of the corrupt welfare state where everyone is equally bad off, except for the political leaders and their pals who live high on the hog.

The economy was the big problem when he took office and it remains the big problem today. Unemployment is almost 8 percent, right where it was when he started, but for most of his time in the White House it was even worse. Despite massively expensive stimulus programs, economic growth remains lackluster.

Gasoline prices today are almost double what they were in 2008. His energy policies resist tapping massive domestic energy supplies that could free America from dependence on costly foreign oil.

His EPA regulations impose heavy financial burdens on coal-fired electricity generation and have led to the planned shutdown of many power plants, including the local one in Avon Lake, depriving that community of jobs and tax revenue.

Obama vowed to cut in half the annual Bush spending deficit he inherited, but instead he tripled it.

He called George W. Bush "irresponsible" and "unpatriotic" for adding $4 trillion to the total accumulated national debt in eight years, but then he added $5 trillion more in only four years, and would add an estimated $5 trillion beyond that in a second term.

Today's $16 trillion national debt is the size of the nation's total annual economic output. That's like owing Master Card your whole year's wages, and still buying more on credit every day. Printing more money out of thin air to keep pace with the spending will eventually make our dollars worth less, if not worthless, and it's our children and grandchildren who will suffer the consequences with a diminished way of life.

Obamacare has made employers afraid to add workers, and its cost estimates keep rising even as it is estimated to fall millions of people short of its goal of health insurance for all. It adds millions of new patients but has many doctors saying they may quit because of the intrusive bureaucracy and payment limits. Having Obamacare is no guarantee you will be seen by your doctor, or any doctor, in a timely manner. Older and sicker Americans will face rationing of care and could be denied treatments now available.

Obamacare assaults individual liberty by forcing people to buy health insurance under penalty of stiff fines to be enforced by the IRS. It attacks the First Amendment protection of religious liberty through HHS regulations that force religious institutions to violate their most deeply held principles about the sanctity of life.

The president swore to uphold the Constitution, but he has torn up its checks and balances by using regulations and executive orders to bypass Congress and get what he wants, even when Congress says "no."

President Obama promised more government transparency. Instead, he conceals vital facts about his presidential performance from congressional and public scrutiny. A prime example is the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens and former Navy SEALS in the terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The White House reportedly refused to heed their calls for help during the attack on Sept. 11, 2012. After shifting stories, Obama has put up a stone wall of silence. He doesn't want public reminders that Osama bin Laden may be dead, but Al Qaeda and Islamist enmity toward America are alive and regrouping under this presidency.

Another example is his use of presidential executive privilege to conceal from congressional investigators documents about his Department of Justice's Fast and Furious operation. That scheme illegally put guns from U.S. gun shops into the hands of Mexican drug lords. Those guns later turned up in the murders of a U.S. border agent and hundreds of Mexicans. It was a cynical ploy to foster more gun controls in the U.S.

In foreign relations, Obama has put a chill into our ties with Israel and Great Britain while going soft on anti-American despots in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. His support of the Arab Spring has helped topple leaders we could deal with and enabled hostile Islamists to gain strength and power in Egypt and Libya.

In many ways, Barack Obama has let America down, and it's time to let him go. On Tuesday, vote for a strong and healthy America. Elect Mitt Romney president.